Concentration of ores



L, BMLEY. CONCENTRAION 0F GRES. APPLlCATON FILED NOVJ 9,

latened June G, H220 2 SHEETSSHEET l.

5 wvlp ,m

I.. BAILEY.

CONCENTRATION 0F om,

APPLICATION FILED NOV, 9,19I7- l )f I 'A d. .,4L1'8,514 y Mentehm@ G, U22,

ZSHEETSMSHEET 2,

o zona. have invented naar orales.

Lewis Barter, or emanan, aniaona., assronon 'ro Mii-malins Senasa-rien nonna ansa-loan ooneonariongor am! Yonai, n. Y., a ooaronaron or Martignano.

Concesionarios oi 03ans.

Specification of Letters Fatent.

Application filed November 9, 191-7-.\\S eia1 No. 201,062.

T0 all W12/0my if ma-'l/ concern Be it known that l. Lnwis Banier. u citi Zen of the United States, residin,"T at lia):- den, in the county ol Gila and State of ria new and useful lmprovement in Concentration ot (lres, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to concentration ot ores ol' copper and other niet-als by the process of llotation, wherein a body of pulp consisting' ol finely divided ore-and water. is aerated so as to torni bubbles therein, suitable flotation agents, such oil` tar. etc.. being used to ca use the mineral ot the ore to be selectively floated by the bubbles as they rise to the surface o'fthe body of pulp, and to be thereby separated from the gangue ot' the ore,

rThe main object ot the 'present invention is to apply the flotation Yagent aforesaid in the most eii'ective and economical manner. and'particularly to so apply said agent that 'i it will be uniformly supplied to all parts of the pulp.

Another object ot the, invention is to dispense with any agitation of liquid 'flotation' agent such as oil or tar. with the pulp. thereby simplifying and reducing the, cost of the iirocess andot the apparatus used lor carrying ity out and also increasingr'the eiliciency of the process.

In concentrating ores by flotation, it has generally been considered necessary to agritate the oil or other flotation agent with the pulp to secure ellicient selective action ot the flotation agent with respect to the mineral and ganglio constituents ol' the ore. and in -sucli agitation, the dotation agent, often in masses or globules of considerable size, was brought Jforcibly into intimate and prolonged contact with the langue particles, with the result that such particles were liable to become lmore or lessA coated with such agent, notwithstanding the selective action ot the latter, and the aqanpuu, so coated was carried along` with the mineral values. so that the resulting rougl'ier concentrates required much cleaning. An important object 'fectively prevent such prolonged Contact of liquid, oil, etc., with thegang'ue particles and to correspondingly reduce the amount ofgangue material carried along with the mineral values and the amount ot recleaning needed on' the rougher concentrates.

The above recited objects7 as well as bther ot the present invention is to more el?? advantages hereinafter referred to, are at tained accori'lingr to this invention, by supplying: the oil, tar or other flotation agent, in the torni ot a vapor mixed with the air or other gas used for aeration. and by so applying` this mixture of vapor and gas to the body ot pulp 'that the resulting bubbles are uniformly distributed in the pulp, and the flotation agent is presented to the pulp at the surfaces ot' such bubbles. the Operation beingcarried on in such/.manner that ythere is no opportunity tor flotation agent to collect in liquid forni. in masses ot any considerable size, in the pulp. i I

My invention may be carried out 1u anv suitable apparatus adapted to supply the flotation 'agent in the form of vapor mixed with air or other gras, andf ,to apply such mixture otvapor and `to the pulp in such manner as to :form-bubbles distributed uniformly through the body of pulp, said bubbles ascending; through the pulp and conveyingthe lotation agent to all parts of tbe pulp with substantial uniformity. The apparatus shown in the accompanying drawings is. however, especially adapted for carrying out the process. Referring to said drawings Fig. 1 is a` partly sectional side elevation of such flotation apparatus.

Fig. Q is a 'partial plan view thereof.

Fig. $5 is a partial vertical section, shoW-' l Vin Figs. 3 and et, comprising side Walls 3,

tei-tical partition walls 4, and a door 5, said vfloor being` inclined to facilitate flowr of pulp thereover and the partition Walls 4 being spaced from said floor to permit flow of the pulp from cell to cell. Suitable baliles S are provided Jfor regulating said loatlles being, 'tor example, mounted` for vertical adliustmenaby screw rods 7, engaging in hand wheels 8, which resten top bars 9. Oi the two cells shown in Fig. 3, the first or uppermost. cell 1 is adapted for supply ofthe flotation agent along with air, the floor ot said cell being provided with a passage or chamber l0, connected to suitable means 'for supplyingr a mixture of air and of flotation agent inthe orinoit vapor, the top ot' said chamber being formed of aporous mat or plate ll, over which the pulp flows. Said cell l .may also be provided such itlow,

hor of cellsysiu'h :shown :it l in llig,

:means in usual manner. The ore pulp sup- A. ply means 17 compi-inw, :i chui@ delivering' nii-li` und :i pipe Ill. connected o receive tl'ie compressed :iii' l'i'oiii said pump und lending' to u i-liaiiliei' oi' receiver lll) having outlet pipes 32 lvaiding' tu lxe' passaggi?. l() of the several i-ills l5 valves 33 l'ieinp; provided in pipes 32 foi' voiii'olling the low ol iiii'. iu em'h of said mills. lliihil'ile means are )royided foi' suiiplyiiig lotzil'iou agent sui-li :is a flotation oil, lo hi* :iii passing" to ('liamhei $30. FoiI this purpose, u tiiiik 36 containing suf'h agent in liquid l'oinn is; (-uiineiied oy pipinpr 311 iiiiludiiig :i umidi@ valve. tu :i high pi'ivisiii'e ('oi'iipi'iiueil l(ii'i pipi. il!) lozding ibo un illuminer l which sprays oi' lilou vtion` muy he supplivd hy u pump 4l). This Letonia which the air is forced, may be of various materials, Whe-tirer 'natural porous rock, or artilicialrslahs ot any lrind, it being: necessary, however'. 'that these mats should be porous, andot' consii' rable extension so as to present a multiplicity oit closely spaced openings extending over a satliciently large surface to provide for uniform distribution of the air in the pulp.

My process maybe carried out in the above described appa utils, as follows;

They ore pulp, resulting from coinminution of the ore with water, is conducted by feed means, to the upper end of the series of rougher cells, Without. any preliminary agitation or treatment with oil or other flota-- tion avent, and flows successively through all of said cells. Ain compressed by pump 28 to a fre of 'our to rlve pounds per square inch, is cond 'Y .d through pipe 31 Awherein it. f .nl or iinpregrated. 'with a. flot-ation agent d' tributed thereinto by atomizer .38. Any suit-able oilor other dotation agent may be used, provided it is of 'suflicient volatility to enable it to be vaporized and carried forward by the air (or through at least to enable a sullicient portion thereof to be vaporized 'for the. purpose of this invention). Il the flotation agent is not sulflic-iently volatile to enable it to be vaporizdd by atomization into the air passing through pipe 31, it may be vaporized by' heat applied in any suitable4 manner-tor example, by heating' the air into which it is supplied, such heating of the air not beingl hereinv specifically claimed by me. The mixture of; air and vaporized flotation agent passes to chamber 80, whence it is distributed by pipes 32 to the several passages. or chambers 10 in the floor or bot-tom ol' cells l., and passingI up through the pores or interstices ot' the porous mats or plates ll@ issues therefrom in the form ot iets or streams ot' vapor laden air. Such air, on entering the pulp, breaks up into bubbleswhicl" in the pulp, and' by reason or" the. great number, close spacing: and variant direction of the streams ot air (due to the irregular porous structure ot' the l 'mats or plates 1l), the Whole body of pulp 'required sub-division resultingN above the said mats or plates 1l, becomes filled-or occupied with substantial uniformity, by bubbles o'l air carrying llotation 'a-gent. The :flotation ugent is ag'iplied to, or

sion and distribution ot the flotation agent by this method may bel made more ellective than is p acticable by agitation ol liquidoil with the pulp TVhile it is the aim ol this invention to apply the flotation agent mainly in the form ol' vapor, there may, under certain conditions, be more or less ol the dotation agent carried along in the state of tine particles of liquid suspended in the air and va or. Y Y

l n addition to its function of supplyingthe flotation agent in condition of extreme. subdivision and at the same time distributing such finely divided agent to all parts ol the pulp, the .compressed air forced into the lower part of the cellsl, as above described, serves as an aeratirugr agent for the pulp, the

bubbles produced in the pulp by the air, rising to the surface and 'flowing 'over the side. Walls 3 of the cells, this overflowing` loam or .mass of bubbles carrying with it the colleentrates which pass along the launders 20 to the cleaner cells. The complete operation of the air suppliedin this manner and laden with vapor ot flotation agent so as to distribute oil or other-,flotation agent to the pulp, as well as to aerate the same, may be termed an oiling aeration, as it performs both of these. functions simultaneously, the Word oiling, in this case, includingr the use of any equivalent flotation agent capable ot being supplied by the air in this manner. In practice, I find it desirable to introduce al aeration as above described. ln the apparatus shown in the dra-wings, this additional 2 pounds) per square inch, passes from main SlT/through valved pipes 604 to the several passages l2 below the respective porous plates 13 of cells 1, and to passages 15 below tlle respect-ive porous plates 16 0l' cells 2, so that minute bubbles ot' air are disseminated throughout the pulp in all the cells,

and in rising through the pulp, carry up' with lthem the mineral concentrates the-root,

so as to complete the flota-tion of the. concen-V trates from the'pulp. 'I have shown the first three cells 1 in each row as provided with means lor oiling-aeration, and the remaining cells 2 ol' each row as provided with means for aeration Without further supply ol oil, etc., but the meanb for oilin'geeration may be provided in any desired number of the series of rougher cells, and even in some ofthe cleaner cells. It will generally be sufi florent, however, to provide the vseries 18V ofY cleaner cells, and thells y19 with the compressed air connections only, as indicated at 

